1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive control apparatus for a vehicle.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-240694, filed Aug. 20, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
A drive control apparatus for a vehicle is known. Such a drive control apparatus detects a preceding vehicle by means of a vehicle-mounted radar, and controls the speed of the vehicle in the presence of a preceding vehicle such that a predetermined inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is maintained while maintaining the speed of the vehicle to a predetermined upper limit speed or lower in the absence of a preceding vehicle (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-130880).
In such a drive control apparatus, while an execution of a speed control, the speed control is canceled in response to a predetermined driving operation made by a driver of the vehicle, such as a depression of the brake pedal, an operation to engage the parking brake, a shift operation of the shift lever into the parking position, the reverse position, or the neutral position, or the like, being detected, as well as a main switch for turning on or off the apparatus being turned off.
However, by simply canceling the execution of the speed control in response to a predetermined driving operation made by the driver, a conventional control apparatus for a vehicle may not be able to control the driving state of the vehicle in a manner consistent with an intention of the driver.
More specifically, the driver may carry out unconsciously or unintentionally some driving operations, such as a depression of the brake pedal, an operation to engage the parking brake, a shift operation of the shift lever into the parking position, the reverse position, or the neutral position, or the like. For example, when a vehicle is in the stopped state in a follow-up control mode while the vehicle is stuck in a traffic jam on an uphill or downhill road, the vehicle may move forward or downward against the driver's intention if the stopped state of the vehicle is canceled in response to the predetermined driving operation unconsciously or unintentionally made by the driver being detected.